by Sarah Wali
Mohamed Islam manages one of the 175 new Green Carts in the Bronx in East Tremont.
The Bronx has seen its share of problems. It was burning in the 1970s and stricken with a drug epidemic in the 1980s. As the crime rates went down throughout the 1990s, a new statistic made headlines: the Bronx was getting fatter.
According to the New York City Community Health Survey, obesity rates had more than doubled by the end of the 1990s to 24 percent. By the time Mayor Michael Bloomberg took office in 2002, it was the fattest borough in New York City, and by 2003, almost 62 percent of the Bronx was either obese or overweight.
In response to this health crisis, Mayor Bloomberg introduced a number of initiatives, including a law that requires all restaurants with 15 or more locations in New York City to display calorie counts on their menus, and 1,000 new licenses to Green Cart vendors, small carts selling fresh fruits and vegetables in areas with the least access to healthy food.
“It is the job of the government, if something is detrimental to your health to a, warn you and b, if it’s serious, try to prevent it,” he said at the Oct. 13 mayoral debate.
Mayor Bloomberg’s use of calorie count to warn diners that McDonald’s, KFC and other fast-food restaurants were unhealthy did little to deter shoppers from their cravings. According to an Oct. 6 web article in Health Affairs, Bronx residents may have been shocked to find that a muffin at Dunkin’ Donuts they once thought was a healthy alternative for a 220-calorie glazed donut was actually 630 calories, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they will buy lower calorie food. Rather, researchers from New York University found that customers were, on average, buying 846 calories per meal, up from 825 before the implementation of the program.
Clearly, the Bronx is not slimming down. Karen Washington, a long-time health activist in the South Bronx, says that the main issue in the Bronx today is food and obesity.
“The overall concern throughout the Bronx is health and nutrition,” she said. “Lack of quality food need(s) to be addressed.”
Washington, who sits on the board for Just Food, an initiative to bring healthy community grown food the Bronx, has started the East Tremont Farmer’s market and is currently working on establishing a farmer’s school to help people learn how to grow their own food. She says she and her neighbors are limited by the fatty choices offered in their area. Plus, with the financial crisis hitting the Bronx especially hard, residents are forced to consider expenses.
“When you don’t have money and you can’t provide for your family you are going to buy the cheapest food items,” she said. “You need to feed your family.”
Bloomberg has tried to create an opportunity for Bronx residents to make healthier decisions. In 2007, his administration began pushing legislation to license 1,500 fresh fruit and vegetable vendors in the fattest boroughs, including the Bronx.
The Bronx is now home to 175 of the 1,000 Green Carts in the city. It’s a promising idea, but it has only been in effect since this July. The true impact of the Green Carts has yet to be seen.
The little carts covered by yellow and green umbrellas imprinted with the logo “NYC Green Carts” carry an array of fruits and vegetables. From apples and oranges to okra and peppers, the carts are supposed to offer a healthy alternative for residents, and open doors for employment.
Mohamed Islam, who runs the Green Cart in front of Bronx-Lebanon Hospital, makes the hour-and-a-half trip every morning from his home in Queens because he loves produce, and believes in the Green Cart program.
Islam, 44, arrived in the United States almost a year ago. He waited years for an opportunity to leave his home in Bangladesh. Finally, in October, 2008, his brother’s sponsorship was accepted, and he and his wife boarded the plane excited about the chance for a better life.
Now, he makes the long trek from Queens to the Bronx hoping he will one day be able to own his own Green Cart. Although he struggles to find the words in English that describe his passion for food and produce, his smile radiates with emotion and his eyes light up as he explains that fresh produce is often overlooked by many in this country. His is an expert opinion. In Bangladesh, he was a government employee who focused on teaching and promoting the importance of agriculture.
He feels that the Green Cart program is a great way to promote healthy produce decisions in the Bronx. As he waits for approval from the city for his own license, he manages the Bronx cart and for $80 per day, sells $250 to $300 worth of fruits and vegetables per day at the corner of Mt. Eden Avenue and Grand Concourse.
But for activists like Karen Washington, the waiting game is over. Washington and the Northwest Bronx Community Coalition have started a program to teach youth the importance of urban gardening, and have just launched a new farmer’s market in the East Tremont area. She says these initiatives are designed to put the power of change back in the community’s hands.
“I felt really lucky that we started a farmer’s market,” she said, “which not only produces locally grown produce, but we teach people in the neighborhood, not only how to grow it but how to use it and how to cook it, which is very, very important. “